Torrington’s Zak Mancini looks for an open man during the Red Raiders’ game against Sacred Heart.
Marianne Killackey — Special to Register Citizen

WATERBURY >> Torrington High School boys basketball coach Eric Gamari guaranteed wins over two Waterbury city schools in a row, then smiled as his team came through at the end of the regular season and the first round of the NVL Tournament.

Monday afternoon, no guarantees could hold for the No. 6 seed Red Raiders against No. 2 Sacred Heart (20-2; 20-1 NVL), ranked fourth in the state in this week’s GametimeCT poll.

With Heron on board in Saturday’s quarterfinals, the Hearts struggled to an underwhelming 53-48 win over No. 7 Naugatuck.

“They took about 45 seconds on each possession; then they were on fire,” said Carroll.

Meanwhile, Torrington’s two-game success came from strength underneath by Mitch Zagrodnik and Desmond Langs and outside shooting led by Zak Mancini.

Monday, Sacred Heart, big and athletic at every position, rocked Torrington’s boat in the very first minute.

Forward/center Malik Pettaway (12 points) loomed up for a huge block in Torrington’s first possession.

“Our defense starts with the big guy,” said Carroll. “Malik played an all-around fantastic game.”

Torrington’s John McCarthy (team-high 15 points) turned that one into a three-pointer for an early Raider lead, then Mancini nailed another one for a 6-4 lead with 5:08 left in the first quarter.

But the Torrington heat didn’t last.

Mancini had another trey in the first quarter’s final minute, pulling the Raiders back to a l6-12 deficit. Then Sacred Heart’s defense shut him down for the rest of the game.

McCarthy had just three more points until the third period.

Meanwhile, Pettaway patrolled underneath with another block. When Hearts forward David Whitney joined in with another one in the first quarter, the lane became a no-man’s land where the Raiders had to launch a shot too quickly to be accurate or struggle to bring it back outside where more defenders loomed in their face.

“We missed shots early,” said Torrington coach. “I never thought we got settled. All year, we’ve been uncomfortable with (Sacred Heart), which is a credit to them. They’re long and they negated us inside.”